94 STAT. 974
PUBLIC LAW 96-320—AUG. 3, 1980 Public Law 96-320 96th Congress An Act
—A"g- ^' — [S. 2492]
Ocean Thermal cJnvSsionAct
To regulate commerce, promote energy self-sufficiency, and protect the environment, by establishing procedures for the location, construction, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities and plantships to produce electricity and energy-intensive products off the coasts of the United States; to amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, to make available certain financial assistance for construction and operation of such facilities and plantships; and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be ^^^^ ^ ^^^ "Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act of 1980".
of 1980. 42 USC 9101
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY.
note. 42 USC 9101.
(a) It is declared to be the purposes of the Congress in this Act to— (1) authorize and regulate the construction, location, ownership, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities connected to the United States by pipeline or cable, or located in the territorial sea of the United States consistent with the Convention on the High Seas, and general principles of international law; (2) authorize and regulate the construction, location, ownership, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion plantships documented under the laws of the United States, consistent with the Convention on the High Seas and general principles of international law; (3) authorize and regulate the construction, location, ownership, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion plantships by United States citizens, consistent with the Convention on the High Seas and general principles of international law; (4) establish a legal regime which will permit and encourage the development of ocean thermal energy conversion as a commercial energy technology; (5) provide for the protection of the marine and coastal environment, and consideration of the interests of ocean users, to prevent or minimize any adverse impact which might occur as a consequence of the development of such ocean thermal energy conversion facilities or plantships; (6) make applicable certain provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 U.S.C. 1177 et seq.) to assist in financing of ocean thermal e n e r ^ conversion facilities and plantships; (7) protect the interests of the United States in the location, construction, and operation of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities and plantships; and (8) protect the rights and responsibilities of adjacent coastal States in ensuring that Federal actions are consistent with approved State coastal zone management programs and other applicable State and local laws. GJ) The Congress declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the legal status of the high seas, the superjacent airspace, or the seabed and subsoil, including the Continental Shelf.
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